


Balancing on Breaking Branches

by sweeterthankarma



Category: SKAM (Norway), SKAM (TV) RPF
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gullruten 2017, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:35:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28587318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweeterthankarma/pseuds/sweeterthankarma
Summary: If Tarjei has to tell one more interviewer that it wasn’t hard to pretend to be in love with Henrik, he thinks he’s going to forget to include the pretending part.
Relationships: Henrik Holm/Tarjei Sandvik Moe
Comments: 11
Kudos: 27





	Balancing on Breaking Branches

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this months ago after re-watching a bunch of videos of the cast at Gullruten in 2017 and decided I'd finally share it. It's certainly not depicting a relationship I believe to be anything more than friendship, but I simply wanted to dive a bit into the idea of what could have been with these two, solely for my own entertainment, and hopefully yours too! I know real person fic can be touchy so I hope anyone and everyone who comes across this knows it's merely fiction and I wrote it, and chose to share it with the deepest respect for Henrik and Tarjei. Please be just as respectful in the comments if you have things to share! Alt er love.
> 
> Title comes from the song "Exile" by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver.

Award shows are loud, hectic, awkward. Tarjei’s never been a fan.

He finds peace for the first time in hours in the elevator, of all places, which is funny because he’s always been more of a stairs guy. Henrik knows this. 

“It’s exercise that your brain doesn’t think of as exercise,” Tarjei had explained to the first time he went for the door to the fire escape instead of taking the golden, already open chute waiting for him across the hall. Waiting for  _ them.  _

Tarjei had given Henrik an expectant look, one that would grow familiar on his face. Looking at him like he should already know this. 

“It’s like cheating,” he’d said.

Tarjei doesn’t think he’s said that word around Henrik since, not in any context. If he were a better person, he probably would. 

Henrik used to race him to see how fast they could go up or down a flight of steps. Sometimes, if they were out of sight from any agents or staff or coworkers who would chide them, they’d even try to slide down the banister, act like the teenagers they’re supposed to be.

Tarjei wonders if anyone would chide them right now if they saw the way he tensed when the elevator pulley jerks, shakes, and lurches to an unexpected stop before continuing on like nothing had happened. Kind of like them, like the way they move around each other. 

Tarjei wants to know: would anyone say a thing if they saw the way Henrik reached for his hand, held it just loosely enough for it to be casual, comforting, friendly and not anything more?

Tarjei won’t find out. He already doesn’t like the answer, anyway. He thinks they’d all say too much. 

They do, later on, of course, proving his point. They kiss in front of everyone in the crowd, briefly immersing themselves in  _ Isak and Even  _ and not themselves, who they really are. Tarjei and Henrik. Two boys from a country nobody even thought about until a low budget TV show turned enough heads to make a difference. 

Maybe who they are isn’t that far from their characters, anyways, or so Tarjei thinks when Henrik slips his tongue against his so swiftly, like it’s nothing. Like it’s not just another thing about him that’s familiar, something that Tarjei wants more of. Would give anything for.

It’s not surprising when the tabloids are all over it later on, either. It comes with the job, and they both know that speculations come for any on screen couple, whether they’re singled out for a kiss cam or not. Whether they attend countless award shows together and answer the same questions over and over or not. 

If Tarjei has to tell one more interviewer that it wasn’t hard to pretend to be in love with Henrik, he thinks he’s going to forget to include the pretending part.

The winning is nice. Easy, requires nothing but walking and saying names and pretending to not be terrified of all the bright lights and eyes on him. Besides, he’s already won, in more ways than a mere gold plated award can attest to. He knows this. Knows Henrik knows it too. 

This is what they have, only each other, together in a way that they can’t define and maybe don’t need to. Tarjei thinks he likes their odds in any category, anyway, especially when it comes to people making assumptions. If they’re going to think it, might as well have it be true. 

They go down sixteen flights the next morning, heading back to Oslo. They don’t say anything. They don’t need to. Henrik holds Tarjei’s hand all the same, and when the door opens, they both let go.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi and talk to me about the Skamverse at my Tumblr blog [here](https://sweeterthankarma.tumblr.com/) or at my Twitter account [here!](https://twitter.com/sweeterthnkarma)


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